The national caretaker chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ahmed Makarfi, on Wednesday held a peace meeting with leaders of the party in Osun State, as part of efforts to revive the party.
The meeting, which held in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, was attended by a former Oyo State Governor, and Accord Party chieftain, Rasheed Ladoja, and the Labour Party governorship candidate in the last governorship election, Fatai Akinbade.
Messrs Ladoja and Akinbade recently returned to the PDP.
The meeting tagged “unity luncheon”, according to the party leaders, was aimed at uniting the different factions.
The party chairman in Osun State, Sarafa Oshola, said the meeting was specifically put together to solidify the party’s achievements in the state.
“You can see that party chieftains who have not interacted together for the past 17 months are now sitting side by side, signposting the unity and harmonisation among all the stakeholders of our party in the state,” he said.
Mr. Ishola charged all the party members to sustain the unity, with a view to building stronger opposition to dislodge the All Progressive Congress, APC, in the 2018 governorship election in Osun and the 2019 general elections.
He noted that the PDP remained the only alternative Nigerians were looking up to for the needed leadership to deal with the challenges facing the country.
Mr. Akinbade, who also spoke at the meeting, said he was very happy to be part of the meeting, which he described as “historic.”
“There can never be a better time than now to have this type of gathering,” he said.
“The APC at the federal and state levels have misused the opportunity provided by political power by not offering the nation and its people the right leadership. The division within our ranks caused their emergence in the first instance.
“Since its (APC) foray into the nation’s helms of affairs, it has clearly been known to Nigerians that the APC was not prepared for governance; they have been acting as opposition, forgetting they are already in government.”
He added that, “For us to regain our lost glory, it will require dedication, honesty, discipline and forgiveness. Simply, it is when we are united that these people presently at the helms of affairs, can be dislodged,” he said.
Other who attended the meeting include former deputy governor of Osun State, Iyiola Omisore; Seyi Makinde; former chairman of the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, Olu Alabi; former Minister of Transport, Ebenezer Babatope and Kofoworola Bucknor Akerele.
Also in attendance were the senator representing Osun West Senatorial District, Ademola Adeleke, party chieftain, Shuaib Oyedokun, former Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, former Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Obada, former chairman of the PDP in Osun, Gani Olaoluwa, Soji Adagunodo and Bayo Faforiji.